Posts Tagged "Ferrari"

There has been plenty of conjecture this season, surrounding the close partnership between Ferrari and the Haas F1 Team – particularly because the latter has finally become a competitive point-scoring force.

Ferrari has confirmed that Lewis Hamilton will join the Italian manufacturer from 2019, a move which has blindsided many who believed the four-time world champion would complete his Formula One career at Mercedes.

Formula One’s off-season purgatory is finally over, and with preseason testing starting only last night, fans can remain optimistic that this will be the year their team and that their driver will hit the jackpot.

Anytime that Formula One enters the season finale as a dead rubber, it’s difficult to label the year gone a classic. Yet the underwhelming swansong betrays the reality that 2017 has been a timely return to form.

“It might be tempting to think that with both championships now secure the pressure is off,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix. “But that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Having witnessed its title ambitions all but evaporate over three weeks, Ferrari has little to gain at the final races. Therefore, they cannot fall victim to their time honoured instant gratification of lynching a prolific figure and lapsing into an existential crisis.

Rather than experiencing shock during the Hungarian Grand Prix over Ferrari’s race tactics, there was that familiar feeling of ‘why are we not surprised’, as once again Sebastian Vettel was prioritised over Kimi Räikkönen.

Three victories from six starts is a great deal more than Ferrari has achieved in recent seasons, and the Italian marque has an opportunity to seize the narrative with victory at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

The opening race of Formula One’s new era delivered a pleasantly surprising outcome, yet many departed Melbourne lamenting the racing spectacle as teams and drivers adapted to the overhauled regulations.

Almost no-one expected Ferrari to take the fight to Mercedes in Round 1, with the supposedly informed money being on Red Bull Racing putting together the class act of the field. The Australian Grand Prix result turned expectations on their heads.

It’d be naive to suggest that Ferrari has recovered from its inexplicable, though entirely quintessential, freefall in 2016 on the back of last week’s opening pre-season test, yet indications show a tangible package to fashion a concerted effort in the upcoming campaign.